The Interior Department said Friday the agency will hold the largest oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history, covering all available unleased areas in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
The sale, scheduled for March 21, covers 77 million acres off the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
“Responsibly developing our offshore energy resources is a major pillar of President Trump’s American energy dominance strategy,” said Interior Department Deputy Secretary David Bernhardt.
“A strong offshore energy program supports tens of thousands good-paying jobs and provides the affordable and reliable energy we need to heat homes, fuel our cars, and power our economy. We have the strongest safety regulations in the world and today’s technology is making the responsible development of our resources even safer.”
The sale is part of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program for 2017-2022, a five-year program whose terms were established by the Obama administration.
The Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management estimates that offshore resources in the Gulf contain more than 48 billion barrels of oil and 141 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
In January, the Trump administration released its own draft offshore leasing plan, proposing to allow oil and gas drilling in nearly all federal waters, in areas where it’s currently not permitted.
The Trump plan has received bipartisan criticism, with almost all coastal governors expressing opposition to allowing drilling off their shores, for fear of spills and harm to tourism.
